Godfather
by LilBlue-Hedggie
Summary: DHspoilers According to the wills of the late Mr. Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Lupin, nee Tonks, guardianship of Teddy Remus Lupin will go to his godfather Harry James Potter. The real question here, can Harry handle being a godfather? Series of oneshots
1. Custody

**Disclaimer**: Harry Potter doesn't belong to me.

**Warnings**: Deathly Hallows spoilers, why are you online reading Harry Potter fictions if you haven't finished the book? Shoo! No pairings.

Godfather

_Custody_

"According to the wills of the late Mr. Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Lupin, nee Tonks, guardianship of Teddy Remus Lupin will go to his godfather Harry James Potter if his maternal grandparents are unable to give proper care. As Andromeda Tonks has just become a widow as well as childless we the ministry feel that until such emotional traumas are overcome all custody will go to Mr. Potter. Court adjourned."

Harry remained notably silent, with all the sudden changes throughout the wizarding world he'd almost forgotten about little Teddy Lupin. His throat felt dry at the thought, Remus was dead and he was never coming back. The last true Marauder, dead… And Tonks as well, it was difficult to imagine things without her brilliant flare…literally of course.

Though all the same he was glad that the ministry was coming back together, for the better, and freeing all those falsely accused and those under the Imperius curse. He was also doubly pleased to note that Umbridge had been sacked, for good this time. She had been sent off to Azkaban with the rest of the Death Eaters for multiple uses of the Cruciatus Curse, unlawful punishment muggleborns, and willingly cooperating with known Death Eaters during the ministry take-over.

Now that things were cleaned up and organized, Death Eaters were shipped to Azkaban or killed on the spot. The casualties were also being taken care of, burials were organized and all those that suffered at the hands of the ministry were reimbursed and given back their wands. Ministry workers who embraced the take over were also punished severely. Orphaned children were also something to worry about, many muggleborns and 'blood-traitors' were killed along with rebels before the fall of Voldemort, leaving behind children with nowhere to go.

Teddy Lupin was just one of the many.

He was lucky though, before the deaths of the Lupin family, he had been assigned a godfather. Not just any godfather, Harry Potter, the defeater of Voldemort once and for all. Not that Harry liked to take credit for it; it had been luck that he was the one to defeat Malfoy, gaining the rightful title as the master of the Elder Wand. It had also been incredibly lucky that Voldemort had taken his blood in the graveyard; otherwise he would be dead. Well… It was more like he'd been dead for a minute or so, but that was a necessary sacrifice, as one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, however unwilling, he needed to die to rid himself of the foreign piece of soul within him. So really, it was all just good fortune.

When Teddy was dumped into his arms Harry almost dropped him in shock. He looked down at the baby and smiled gently, he was such a cute combination of Remus and Tonks, Remus' facial structure and Tonks' nose, though it was difficult to tell with Tonks because she was always shifting. Right now Teddy had his father's eyes and his hair was turquoise, though it was in the process of changing to sky blue.

"You may leave now Mr. Potter."

Harry looked briefly at the judge and turned to leave the courtroom. Honestly, bringing a baby to court? Though he was loathe to admit it, Andromeda was in no condition to watch over Teddy. She was still sobbing heavily back in the courtroom and Teddy would just remind her of what she lost, her daughter and her husband. Until she had properly mourned her losses she wasn't a suitable parent.

Though this left him to question, what was he going to do with a baby? He'd never babysat, his neighbors back on Privet Drive all thought him an imbalanced criminal, there was no way he ever watched any of their children.

It was certain that he was not going back to Hogwarts, the school not only needed repairs but it held too many memories, Remus and Tonks died there, Fred too, along with Collin and countless others. Some were like Lavender Brown who barely made it out alive, she was covered in various scarring from Fenrir Greyback, at least Bill had company.

He thought he might talk to Mrs. Weasley about how exactly to take care of Teddy but for now he needed a place to live, somewhere nice out in the country with no fans to bother him, and where no one could bother Teddy. The son of Light supporters or not, people still considered him the son of a werewolf and with Greyback's reputation they'd consider him a threat, it didn't matter if Teddy had any wolf characteristics or not.

He again looked down at the baby sadly. At least when Teddy got older he would be able to relate easily to the boy because they had both lost their parents at a young age. They'd get along just fine.

"After all," he mused, "we already have something in common."

* * *

LBH: Okay, this won't really be a full fledged story but more of clips of Harry being a godfather and raising Teddy throughout the years. So it's kind of like a series of one-shots. When I read the part when Remus brought out a picture of Teddy I had a sudden image of him going all Hughes from FMA… I can see it now… "Look at my little Teddy! Isn't he adorable, just one smile from him is sure to brighten everyone's day! And look! I have SUMMER pictures! Teddy looks even more adorable in swimming trunks!" 


	2. Childcare

Godfather

_Childcare_

"I'm not sure I completely understand this Mrs. Weasley, it all seems very complicated."

"Don't you fret fear, you'll understand soon enough. It's just a diaper."

"Yes but… wouldn't magic be easier?"

"Of course it would but this is just in case, you never know when your wand will go missing with children around. Why, when Ginny was born Fred and George would steal my wand all the time." She stopped speaking abruptly and turned away, shoulders shaking.

"Mrs. Weasley, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up." Fred's death was still a sensitive subject for Mrs. Weasley; her greatest fear, after all, was her children dying.

"Don't worry over me dear," She tried to hide a great sob. "Just make sure to take extra good care of little Teddy, children are the most precious gifts you know." She gave a weak half-smile and tried to busy herself in the kitchen.

Harry felt terrible for bringing back memories for Mrs. Weasley. She'd always been like a mother to him and he didn't like the sight of her grief stricken face. Though she tried to hide it, everyone could see that Fred's death cut her deep. The only one more so affected than her was George; he didn't seem complete without his twin beside him.

"Thank you Mrs. Weasley, I'll make sure to visit. I'll bring Teddy along too."

"That would be wonderful Harry."

He made his way quickly over to the fireplace; portkey and apparition were not ideal travel for babies. That left floo travel, to be completely honest, Harry hated all forms of wizarding travel except flying, but the air was much too cold for a baby. Grabbing a pinch of floo powder he tossed it into the fire and stepped in, making sure to cover Teddy's mouth as to not inhale any ash. He made sure to clear his throat of all ash before speaking, his first floo experience still shone clearly in his mind.

"The Hollow."

The Hollow was the name of his newly purchased house out in the countryside. The location was beautiful, but not convenient most of the time. The name sounded similar to the word Hallow, and he owed so much so those things. Without the Elder Wand and his cloak, he wouldn't be here. Not that the stone wasn't important, but it was better of where it was: lost. Having two of the Hallows together was bad enough; he didn't want to imagine having all three. Should he be defeated and someone take the Elder Wand, he wouldn't want someone nicking the other two Hallows off him. That would be a mixture for disaster.

The stepped out of the fireplace as gracefully as he could manage, he didn't want Teddy to fall after all. He looked over his sparsely furnished house, hopefully that would change soon enough. Kreacher was helping him move different furniture into different rooms, though the house elf wasn't staying here. He wouldn't dream of tearing Kreacher away from the Black House, the elf had done so much for him, the least he could do was leave him the house. The elf was very attached to it after all, especially Regulus' room.

He walked through the halls into a bright windowed room, the only furniture being a nightstand, a bed, a crib, and a lamp. Hermione had had come up with a genius way to keep a generator going permanently with magic. He thanked her profusely for this because he didn't know how to run a magic stove for his life. The washing machine was also greatly appreciated; he didn't want to wash everything by hand after all.

He sat down on the bed and kicked off his shoes, still holding Teddy in his arms he leaned back against the pillows and looked out the window. It really was a great view. There was a wide expanse of grass before forest took over and he could see a small lake within walking distance. Maybe if it got warm enough he could swim there, after he'd checked to make sure it was safe of course. No leeches or magical creatures and such.

"Well Teddy, what should we do today?"

He received a gurgling noise in reply.

"You want to walk by the lake?"

He stood up only to sit back down as a vile smell hit his nose.

"Hold that thought, you need a diaper change first."

He walked back into the main hallway at a brisk pace and grabbed the baby bag he left there previously. He didn't have a changing table so the kitchen table would have to do. He laid a blanket down before putting Teddy. Harry opened the diaper with quick movements and immediately backed away from the table, covering his nose all the while.

"Oh that is foul! How can such a small baby make so much…so much… You know what Teddy? I'm not even going to say it."

Holding his nose with one hand he grabbed the soiled diaper with the other. Panicking he tossed the diaper into the air and quickly drew his wand.

"Incendio!"

The falling diaper immediately burst into flame, leaving nothing but ashes. Harry quickly cleaned the ashes up and walked back to Teddy. He waved his wand once more.

"Tergeo."

He'd never been more grateful to Hermione than right now, he _really_ did not want to clean Teddy up by hand and that spell was just the trick. Of course he only knew the spell because Malfoy broke his nose back in the beginning of sixth year… So maybe the circumstances for learning the spell were a bit abnormal but he was happy he learned it none the less.

Taking another diaper out of the bag he held it up awkwardly. How did Mrs. Weasley do this again? He looked back at Teddy who stared straight back at him. He couldn't just leave Teddy naked; he had to at least try.

"Right then, now I think I'm supposed to pick up your legs and put this underneath… or something. Then these go around here and… well that doesn't look right… Wait, wait, I know! It's on backwards. Now it _really_ goes like this and– ah hah! There we go!"

He stood back with a triumphant smile. He'd gotten it on just like Mrs. Weasley had shown him, and Teddy even looked comfortable! His moment of triumph was ruined by a pirecing cry, oh no… Did he do something wrong? He scooped Teddy into his arms, making sure to hold his head just like Mrs. Weasley told him, and rocked the baby gently. When the crying did not cease he bent down to rifle through the baby bag. He didn't want to be rocked, and he was just changed… Maybe he wanted to be fed?

He stood up, bottle full of prepared formula in his hand. Mrs. Weasley had given him several bottles with formula all charmed to stay fresh and keep at a certain temperature.

Taking the bottle he slumped down on his only chair and positioned Teddy's head in the crook of his arm. He angled the bottle so Teddy could drink and watched in amazement as Teddy just drank on his own, though he had to make sure Teddy didn't choke or forget to breathe. The amazement wore off soon enough when his arm began to ache. Why was it taking so long? It was only a bottle!

Harry gave a relieved sigh when Teddy let off the bottle. He chucked it into the sink then heaved Teddy so his head rested on his shoulder. Babies had to be burped right? He gently patted Teddy's back like he'd seen the muggle mothers do and in a few minutes a quiet burping noise broke the silence. He lifted Teddy up face to face a smiled, now he could rest because Teddy looked tired.

He stood up but froze when he felt something dribbling down his shirt. He lifted Teddy away from his chest to see vomit coating his shirt and Teddy looking awfully pleased with himself.

Harry scowled, "I don't care what Remus says, you are a Marauder child through and through."

He set Teddy down in his crib and stripped himself of his shirt. Maybe this wouldn't be as easy as he thought.

* * *

LBH: Don't you just hate baby vomit? I know I do. 


	3. City

Godfather

_City_

It wasn't long before Harry found himself lacking essential items… Like food… water… those sorts of things. He also imagined a fridge would be plenty useful. And some toilet paper, yeah toilet paper would be nice, because quite frankly his choice of pine wasn't cutting it. This was how he found himself walking through muggle London, baby Teddy strapped to his back with a baby carrier. He was gathering a collection of odd looks, mostly from young woman who were wondering why such a good looking guy was walking around with a baby.

There were the obvious things one could think, he must have gotten some poor girl pregnant but bonus points for taking responsibility. Most of the young women preferred to believe he was just watching some relative. Harry could honestly care less.

He'd already gathered kitchenware, his fridge shrunken carefully in his pocket. It had taken a lot of clever maneuvering to get the guy to leave his paid for fridge outside but he managed. He'd also gathered a microwave, silverware, dishware, baby supplies, furniture, and some paint. He could easily color his carpet floors and tiles but he wanted to feel as if he'd done at least a little work so he figured he could paint the walls manually. It would give him something to do while the world put itself back together. He felt bad for not helping out as much but he was still learning and until Hogwarts had repaired war damage he couldn't go back to school. He also didn't want to jump right into auror training either, the ministry, although better, was still a mess. No doubt they would accept him but he was still a little wary of the ministry. The scar on the back of his hand always reminded him to not completely trust the Ministry of Magic.

Right now he was making his last stop before heading home. He'd been lucky so far because Teddy was asleep. He didn't want to spell the baby with an illusion because he didn't know if magic affected young children negatively and it would be a disaster should Teddy cause any magical mayhem.

Currently Harry was making a stop in the local grocery store but he paused what he was doing when someone behind him let out a loud gasp.

"Young man! Why I never in all my days have seen such terrible parenting!"

Harry gazed back at the elderly woman in confusion, and then looked at Teddy. He seemed fine, he didn't smell, in fact the boy was just waking up.

"Dying a baby's hair, what an atrocious thing to do!"

Dye? What dye? Nothing was wrong with Teddy's hair in fact; it had just changed…neon pink. Oh Merlin…

"I should call child care services; you are obviously not fit to watch a child!" With that the elderly woman marched off with a determined air about her while others in the store gave him dirty looks as they passed. Why now of all times did Teddy's hair change? It was a nice brown before!

Without thinking Harry fled to an unoccupied section of the store and pulled out his invisibility cloak and tossed it over him and Teddy. It had now become habit to take it everywhere with him, not to mention it was a Hallow. Walking briskly to the entrance of the store he drew himself against the wall as the old woman walked through the doorway tugging a police officer after here by the arm.

"He's right here officer! You should see this poor child, pink hair! What sort of toxins could be in such a dye! You send that miscreant off to prison straight away!"

"Ma'am I'm sure you mean well but it's not your place to question another's childrearing abilities. I'm sure if anything was wrong childcare services would have it taken care of. And you can't throw someone in jail for dying hair! Ma'am are you listening to me?" The officer said a little disgruntled.

"And he was right– where did he go? Why that little criminal! He ran! Ran like a coward! You find him officer, you find him right now or I'll have a word with your mother–"

"Ma'am," the officer spoke with as much control as he could muster. "It is not your place to accuse others of crimes without valid proof. And my mother moved to the States years ago now if you would please strop disrupting the peace!"

Harry could have hugged that officer, because that little old woman reminded him slightly of Marge, and that was not a pleasant thought. He slipped out the doors with a small family before making his way to a side alley where he could cut through to the Leaky Cauldron. Upon arriving he kept his cloak on and grabbed some Floo powder. The powder was free so it was no hassle.

"The Hollow!"

He stumbled back into the house and threw off the cloak. He un-strapped Teddy from his back and walked to his room to place him in his crib, where he changed his hair yet again to a dusty blonde and proceeded to fall asleep.

"Oh, so _now_ you change to a normal color! Typical Marauder baby that you are I bet you planned that." He turned away and scowled but it slowly turned into a smile. "But then again I got away with all those groceries without paying. Don't tell Hermione alright? I've already broken the law enough as it is."

He bent down over the crib and placed a kiss on Teddy's forehead. He picked up the grocery bags and brought them to the kitchen to set out all his new household items. At least he could never say life with Teddy wasn't interesting.

* * *

LBH: I had questions about Harry being an Auror and that it by the time of the epilogue he was head auror. Well, to answer that, Harry will probably finish school after repairs are finished. The school was pretty banged up by the end of the book. Also, you have to remember, the epilogue is nineteen years later, he'll have quite a bit of time to do all the training he needs to do and become head auror like JK says he is. He isn't about to start auror boot camp instantly, everything is still messed up in the wizarding world. I hope that answers some questions. 


	4. Companions

Godfather

_Companions_

"Well then, where is he? I want to meet my best mate's godson."

Harry quickly shushed Ron and gestured to an open doorway behind him. "He's sleeping, and Merlin help us if you wake him up…"

Ron grinned, "Sleeping, I get it. You've told us how much of a terror he is when he's awake sometimes."

"Ron! You shouldn't call Teddy a terror, he's just a baby, he doesn't know what he's doing." Hermione intervened.

Harry snorted, "Sure, and I'm the Queen of England."

Ron looked between the two of them, bewildered. "We have a queen? Since when?"

Hermione smiled at her new boyfriend, "It's a figure of speech Ron, a muggle saying."

Ron 'ahhed' in understanding and lowered himself onto a soft brown leather couch. Hermione quickly took her place next to him while Harry sat in the matching armchair across from them.

"So how have things been?"

Hermione instantly brightened, "Never better! They're almost finished with the Death Eater trials and the Ministry is at least somewhat efficient now. At least it's not corrupt anymore, though you can never be too sure…"

"And those under the Imperius have been freed?"

"Yes, but it was rather difficult to manage, you see, we had to be absolutely sure the inspector checking for the Imperius wasn't under the curse themselves. So they've hired those who are unaffected by it, like you, but they are far and few so the process is slow."

"At least something is getting done.'

Ron cleared his throat loudly, "As wonderful as it is to talk about the Ministry," he said with obvious sarcasm, "Can we talk about something else? You know, something cheerful."

"What do you suggest Ron?"

"Well, tell us more about how Teddy's been. Raising a kid all by yourself Harry, right after the war too, must be tough."

Harry shrugged, "I actually thought it would be a whole lot worse, but we're getting used to each other. He's stopped changing his hair color in public now, after we got chased by several more elderly woman complaining about bad parenting and how I would be put away for good if I did that back in their day." Ron desperately choked down laughter at this.

Harry punched Ron's shoulder and scowled, "Don't laugh."

"But it's funny Harry! You have to laugh at funny things, otherwise how would we manage to get through a whole day?"

"You'd frown," Harry replied dryly.

"Oh come on Harry, it takes fewer muscles to smile than to frown anyway." Hermione butted in.

Harry instantly scowled, "I'm beginning to miss the old days when you two argued, Ron's been a bad influence on you Hermione."

"I have not!"

Harry winced as a cry rang through the room, "Brilliant Ron, you woke up Teddy."

Ron looked sheepish and shrugged, "Sorry Harry." He looked down at his pocket watch, "It's time for me and Hermione to go anyway."

Harry, on his way to the bedroom, looked back over his shoulder confused. "You just got here."

"We've reserved a lunch date at a nice muggle restaurant." Hermione's smile lit up the room almost as well as the Lumos charm.

Harry returned a smile, "Well then, don't let me interrupt, off with you lovebirds, off I say!" He gave them a backwards wave and walked into his and Teddy's room. He paid no mind to the two voices ringing "Leaky Cauldron!" and brought Teddy into his arms.

"Hey there, why are you crying?" Harry bounced the baby up and down lightly and was pleased to see Teddy gave out happy gurgles in response.

"You just did that to make them leave didn't you?" He received another happy gurgle in reply. "I don't care what Hermione says, you're a menace born and bred."

This time Teddy answered with the foul odor emanating from his diaper.

"…Sometimes I don't know whether to love you or hate you Teddy."

* * *

LBH: Lately, I just can't write anything and it makes me so frustrated. This came out pretty decent, so it must not be that serious. Though I can't say I'm a good writer to begin with… 


	5. Cry

Godfather

_Cry _

It was a little odd to be up at this time of night. Harry mused to himself. Since Voldemort's defeat he hadn't had a single nightmare, for that he was grateful. Quite recently, Teddy had changed that. He was up all hours of the night, Harry was always feeding him, changing him, baby things… so when Teddy woke him up at around midnight with loud wailing, it felt odd to be up, but he was getting used to it.

Walking over to his crib he picked up the crying baby and rocked him gently back and forth with his arms, as he was told to do if he wasn't hungry or needed changing. When Teddy didn't stop crying he leaned in to smell his diaper, that wasn't the problem. He picked up a preheated bottle and tried to feed him, that wasn't it either.

Harry looked over the small baby with a frown, was he hurting? Or maybe he was sick? He felt Teddy over gently but the boy didn't react, he looked into to Teddy's mouth. He'd also been told that growing teeth would probably make Teddy cry. Yet he saw nothing growing out of Teddy's small pink gums. He didn't appear sick, but then again, Harry was no expert.

He left his room and made his way to the fireplace to Floo to St. Mungo when Teddy started to make little whines and coos. He was surprised to find the baby reaching over his shoulder towards… a picture? Turning to the picture he immediately understood. The picture was of Remus and Tonks sitting happily together on an armchair obviously meant for only one person. Tonks apparently didn't care and was positioned happily in Remus' lap, the werewolf's arms around her waist. They both exchanged grins at the camera before looking at each other and kissing briefly.

Harry himself had never seen Remus or Tonks interact in such a way with each other but Andromeda had told him once that after Remus gotten over his werewolf problem, they were like that all the time. It was war after all, it wasn't uncommon for couples to take advantage of the time they had.

It was very easy to tell who was in the picture, Remus' smile was brighter than Harry had ever seen on him before and Tonks' bubblegum pink hair was practically _glowing_.

He looked down at Teddy, the boy still reaching towards the picture, sobbing. It was irrational and not like him at all but looking at Teddy's miserable face made him want to cry too. He had never properly mourned for his losses, there as too much to do. In this broken time the people especially needed him, he was their hope, their savior, he wasn't expected to break down and cry. He was _supposed_ to be the strong one.

He didn't feel very strong, he never had and he didn't suspect he ever would. He was mildly shocked when he felt a tear dribble down his cheek.

Ignoring it, he sat himself down on a nearby chair, grabbing the photo in one hand and shifting Teddy to the other.

"You miss them, don't you?" He said softly to Teddy who grabbed for the picture frame. He let the little boy hold his corner while he held the other side.

"They were good people you know, the best. Remus was kind and an excellent teacher, though he insisted he was a monster. Tonks was always the cheerful one, tripping over everything; she really brought smiles to our faces. Her real name was Nymphadora, but she hated that, she always wanted to be called Tonks. And…and…well I'm afraid I don't know as much about them as I'd like… You'll have to ask your grandmother someday about your mother but I'm not really sure who to ask about your father… Maybe Minerva? She was there when they were in school. I wish I could tell you more…"

Harry looked at Teddy sadly; he didn't want Teddy to grow up like him, not knowing who his parents were and what they were like. But at least he could be here for him; he'd be a good godfather. Like Sirius always wanted to be… They'd do their best, Teddy and him, the next generation of Marauders.

* * *

LBH: Short, a little sappy, but bearable. And wow… I got a real review from an actual mother… Cool! I'm no parent so that's a big deal for me. Oooh I'm such a loser… And is anyone else having trouble submitting documents? Because it hasn't been letting me do so the past few times I've tried. 


	6. Crawl

Godfather

_Crawl_

The most irritating aspect of children, Harry thought, was their tendency to crawl away.

Something which Teddy had done numerous times.

For instance, right now Harry found himself on a wild goose chase for his godson. He'd woken up in the morning, only to find that Teddy had worked his way out of his crib and crawled away. He hadn't panicked much out him leaving or being injured, he'd received two bobbles from Mrs. Weasley that would sound if Teddy left a certain area (the house) or was injured or had any threat of death. As neither of them had gone off, he assumed Teddy was fine… He just couldn't find him. Thus, he still panicked some.

"Teddy! Teddy this isn't funny, you come out right now! Or- or you're grounded or something!"

Harry frowned and paused to listen, when he heard nothing he continued his search.

He'd checked all the main rooms and the bathrooms, and had not succeeded in finding Teddy anywhere. He was starting to get worried but that comforting silence still made him feel a little better. As long as those alarms weren't going off…

Harry gave off a frustrated sigh and slumped back down onto his bed. Running his fingers through his hair he looked around his room without much thought.

This was when he noticed he was missing something besides his godson. A blanket to be exact…

That's when he heard the sound of light breathing, very light…

Rolling off the bed and onto the floor Harry laid flat and picked up the skirt of his bedspread. There, underneath his bed cuddled up in his missing blanket, was a sleeping Teddy. Completely unaware of the panic he'd put Harry through.

Though he supposed it wasn't that strange, he often left his door open so he could get to Teddy quickly should he need him, and his bed was rather high set for storage purposes…

Letting out a relieved sigh Harry crawled forward and wrapped Teddy up in his arms.

A few more minutes of sleep wouldn't kill him.

* * *

LBH: Yes. Some babies do in fact do this. Like my father… My grandmother is always telling me stories about how he'd wander off and she'd find him snuggled up in a closet somewhere. 


	7. Word

Godfather

_Word_

When Teddy spoke his first word, Harry was overjoyed. At least… until he heard what it was.

"Dada!"

Harry looked down at Teddy, who was sitting happily in his playpen without a care in the world.

"Dada!"

Harry sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Going down into a crouch he hefted Teddy into the air by his armpits before settling the baby into his arms.

"No Teddy, I'm not your daddy."

Teddy completely ignored this and continued chanting his new favorite word.

"Dada, dada, dada, dada!" Teddy cried happily, waving his arms enthusiastically in the air after ever breath.

"No Teddy, you can't call me daddy…"

He gently laid his hand over Teddy's mouth, being sure not to suffocate him.

"Shhh, I'm not your daddy…"

Teddy looked up at him with watering eyes and Harry only shook his head sadly. Remus was dead, and he could never replace him in Teddy's heart, even if the baby didn't remember him much. He never could be Teddy's father and he wouldn't lead him on, that would only result in disaster.

Teddy's eyes continued to water and before long he started crying outright.

"Dada!"

Harry held him lightly, rocking him back and forth absently.

"I'm not your daddy…"

* * *

LBH: Oh dear, I keep adding emo flakes into my fic. And yes, I do view my stories as bowls of cereal… I'm very hungry right now. 


	8. Walk

Godfather

_Walk_

"That's right Teddy! Over this way! You can do it now!" Harry grinned and held out his arms to the toddling child who was slowly making his way over to him. Every once in a while Teddy would teeter and fall right on his rump but every time he would get up and continue walking as if he'd never fallen at all.

"That's the spirit Teddy, keep on going and don't give up!"

Teddy stepped forward again directly into Harry's waiting arms and toppled over with a giggle.

"You did it! I'm very proud of you Teddy." Harry said with a smile.

For a child not completely aware of his surroundings Teddy looked extremely smug as if to say, 'Of course I did, and who wouldn't be proud of me?' Well… as smug as a baby face could get.

"Don't look so arrogant Teddy Bear that was only walking five feet; let's see you do a whole room."

If babies could groan, he imagined that was what Teddy was doing right now.

Harry stifled a laugh and brought Teddy into the kitchen for lunch.

It was about a week later when Teddy's surprised him again, he'd been sitting on the small back porch of his house, cleaning and tweaking his Firebolt. Originally it had been lost when during his flight with Hagrid but after everything was said and done he'd made an attempt to go back and find it. Surprisingly enough, he'd found it in a small second hand shop not far from Surrey. The owner had found the broom on his front lawn one morning as he went to get the paper, and had taken to his shop to sell. It was a nice broom; he'd figured someone would buy it. But for nearly a year it sat in his shop gathering dust, as no one wanted such a broom to clean with. So when Harry stepped into the store one day to do some shopping (He hadn't quite felt like going to London after his mishaps with the elderly female population, and Surrey was the only other place he knew.) he'd been shocked to find it lying there in a rubbish pile set aside to be dumped.

Quite honestly, it had felt a little awkward buying something he already owned.

When Harry heard the bang of his back door, he didn't bother looking up; just assuming it was either Ron or Hermione. He was startled when not a second later and overactive Teddy, who was supposed to be with his grandmother today, fell into his lap with a bright smile.

"Teddy! What in Merlin's beard are you doing here? And where is your grandmum?"

"Right here Harry."

Harry looked up to meet Andromeda's eyes. The woman, though still tired and a little drawn after the death of Tonks and Ted, was looking much better. The bags under her eyes had diminished somewhat and her face wasn't red or puffy like the last time he'd seen her.

"I thought you would be gone a while longer."

She gave him a small smile, "Teddy managed to walk across the entire house today, he was desperate to show you. Kept trying to go through the Floo to get here."

"Did you really Teddy? You naughty boy you, you must have given you're poor old grandmum and dreadful time."

Andromeda slapped the back of his head lightly, "I'm not that old yet, thank you very much."

Harry ignored her and turned back to Teddy, who disappeared from his lap and was making his way across the lawn after a butterfly. Albeit slowly…

"Wait! Teddy! Watch out for that-"

Harry didn't get to finish his sentence before Teddy tripped over and rock and tumbled into a flower bed, where he poked his head out from some lilies, a few petals stuck to his face. Over all he looked a little shocked and confused at what happened. Harry sighed, at least he wasn't hurt.

"I suppose he hasn't gotten t he whole walking thing down after all…"

* * *

LBH: I confess to writing these things out of order, I was in the middle of writing this chapter, after typing _Word_, when I realized… You have to crawl before you can walk… I feel a little silly now… 


	9. Water

Godfather

_Water_

"Are you positive about this Uncle Harry? It doesn't look all that safe to me…"

Harry turned around to look back at his now five year old godson; it was funny how such a mischievous baby had turned into such a timid little toddler. He didn't hold main custody anymore, which went to Andromeda, but Teddy was still over at his house most of the time unless he was off training or Auror missions. It had taken a lot of thinking to decide whether he still wanted to be an Auror. After the war and his past happenings with the ministry he was wary of actually joining but without him the Auror unit wouldn't get any work done. Though having Shacklebolt as the new minister did improve things greatly. And that led him to the now, a successful career as an Auror Captain, and the youngest one to ever be selected too. Even with Voldemort dead he was still annoyingly "special."

"It'll be fine Teddy; I'll admit I'm not terribly fond of water myself but it will useful to know how to swim. You never know when you might need the skill."

"But Uncle Harry, when would I need to swim? You'll always be around to save me right?" Teddy looked up at him with big eyes and a quivering lip, the young child changing his eyes baby blue and his hair into golden blonde curls for effect.

"Nice try, but I'm not going to fall for that anymore." Harry smirked, timid but clever. Teddy had obviously been watching too many muggle television shows.

"But–" Teddy stuttered, changing his appearance back to his preferred teal hair and golden eyes. "I don't want to!"

Harry just laughed at him, "And what makes you think that swimming will be so bad?"

"Well the water is… the water is well WET!"

Harry gave his godson an amused look, the corners of his mouth twitching. "And what makes you think that the water will be anything other than 'wet'? That's how water is Teddy; it's a whole lot better than bath time I assure you."

Teddy looked at his godfather, already waist deep in the lake behind said godfather's house. Well Uncle Harry had never lied to him… But it was water, and he hated water. But swimming did sound _kinda_ fun…

"Oh stop thinking so much about it, Wingardium Leviosa!"

Teddy gave off a frightened scream as he was hoisted into the air, and above the water.

"Let me down, let me down, let me down!"

"If you insist." Harry let the spell drop.

"No! Pick me up, pick me up!"

With a laugh Harry reapplied the spell.

"Now wouldn't you rather swim than just float there?"

Teddy pouted, crossing his arms as he floated above the water, almost touching the surface. "As long as you don't make me float again! Uncle Harry is so mean sometimes."

"I'm mean am I?"

"The meanest Uncle there ever was."

"Teddy I'm you're only Uncle."

Teddy instantly blushed, "Yeah well…well you're still mean!"

"And you still need to work on your arguments." And Harry let the spell drop again, and Teddy fell into the water with a plop, breaking the surface only moments later, arms flailing.

"Arrrg! I hate you Uncle Harry!" The little boy quickly managed to get himself to shore.

"Oh come now Teddy! That wasn't so bad and you even take after your father in this aspect."

Teddy instantly looked interested. "Really? How?"

"I bet he did the doggy paddle too."

Teddy gave his Uncle a foul look, "Haha, very funny. I can feel my insides _curl _with laughter."

"You love me."

"Half the time."

"Only half?"

"Less than half."

"Do you love me now?'

"No."

"And if I buy you ice-cream?"

"I love you Uncle Harry!"

"You know, someday you'll back on this and see how shallow you are. Selling yourself for ice-cream."

Teddy looked at his uncle as if he'd grown two heads, "You're weird Uncle Harry." And with that he ran off back towards the house for his ice-cream.

"Kids these days, so ungrateful." And he wouldn't have Teddy any other way.

* * *

LBH: Gah, this was terrible, but just wanted everyone to know I am indeed alive. I was so tempted to write, "Kids today, so desensitized by movies, television, video games." But I didn't... oh well. 


	10. Work

Godfather

_Work_

"Come on Teddy don't be this way."

The young toddler only tightened his grip in response, glaring at Harry with frighteningly huge golden eyes, teal hair falling into his view.

Heaving a sigh, Harry kneeled down next to the small child, bringing a hand up to rustle Teddy's hair. Teddy scowled as best as a three year old could, attempting to straighten his hair out again, completely forgetting his magic.

"It's my very first day of training; you don't want me to be late do you?"

It had been three years since that fateful day, Teddy, most obviously, was only three years old at present. It'd taken almost two years for the wizarding world to completely repair itself, and even now there were still kinks to be worked out. A country doesn't recover from war in an instant, by the end of the war they were in debt but thankfully not largely so. After going through his last year of Hogwarts and an extra year of self study, Harry was happily ready to say he was willing to give the ministry the benefit of the doubt and become an Auror. He was doubly happy to say that his scores were much better this time around, having a maniacal dark lord after him didn't improve his scores his first run through school.

And so today was the day, his first day of Auror training.

And Teddy was being stubborn.

Even though custody was given back to his grandmother just some few months ago and he'd been living with her, though he still spent an awful lot of time at Harry's house and protested heavily to Harry going anywhere without him or going anywhere without Harry.

"Teddy," said Harry voice becoming stern. "I'll have to go eventually and you don't want your favorite Uncle to be punished for being late do you?"

Teddy shook his head wildly, looking rather like a wet shaggy dog.

"Then why won't you let me leave?"

Teddy mumbled something.

"What was that?"

"Don wan' Unca Hawy to weave."

Harry's lips quirked slightly, Teddy had an adorable lisp, sure it'd have to be fixed eventually but for now he'd enjoy it.

"I won't be gone long; in fact, I'll be back for dinner. So just go on up with your grandmum and I'll be back before you know it."

Teddy looked uneasy.

"Oh come now, I've never lied to you before have I?"

Teddy shook his head again.

"Then what's there to worry about?" Giving a peck to Teddy's forehead, Harry stood up again and grabbed his cloak. Taking a handful of Floo powder, Harry tossed it into the fireplace and stepped backwards into the green flames.

Teddy pouted stubbornly, arms crossed and eyes averted.

"No goodbye? You hurt my feelings Teddy."

Teddy continued to pout.

"Well it that's how it is…" Harry took a deep breath, "M-"

"Wait!"

"Yes?"

Teddy looked up shyly, "Bye Unca Hawy." The small boy waved a hand, looking dejected.

Harry's smile softened, "See you soon cub."

And with a green flash Harry was off.

* * *

LBH: Well this one shot was full of nothing. And to answer some questions, no Ginny will not be coming in any time soon. I did say there would be no pairings, because I don't like Harry x Ginny unless it's extremely well written. 


	11. Winter

Godfather

_Winter_

Harry say back in his leather armchair, foot resting on a rocking crib some feet way, gently kicking the crib so it would sway back and forth. Looking out from the large window in the back of his house at the snow covered trees it was hard to believe it would almost be half a year since Voldemort's defeat. It seemed surreal in a way, but then again he'd felt the same way when he'd first entered the wizarding world. He was so young then, far less bitter than he was now…

Teddy's first birthday would be in a few months now that he thought about it…

He was startled out of his thoughts by soft cries, getting up he looked down into the crib to inspect his godson. The boy was staring out of the window and crying, wriggling back and forth in his panic. He was obviously scared of something…but what?

He picked up the distressed child and rocked him gently.

"What is it Teddy? Did something scare you?" He looked around the room for anything that could remotely scare a child, a strange sound or shadow…but Teddy had been looking the other way, out the window. He looked out of the glass to see it was snowing now, the first time he'd actually seen it snowing this year actually. The previous snow storms had occurred overnight.

"Are you scared of the snow Teddy?"

The child just continued to cry, now gripping Harry's shirt in a rather tight grip. That had to be it then; falling pieces of white must seem pretty strange at first. He himself couldn't remember how he reacted to his first snow, all he remembered was the snow in the years after and how he had to shovel it away from the driveway because his Uncle certainly wasn't going to do it.

Smiling Harry walked to the window and opened it, shifting Teddy in his arms to rest his weight on one arm as he reached out the window with the other. Waiting for a few flakes to settle he brought his arm back inside and showed Teddy his hand.

"See Teddy?" The boy stopped crying to look curiously at the small flakes, which slowly became water because of Harry's body heat. "It's just cold water."

He reached out the window again and scooped up some snow from the small roof underneath the window. He took a small amount of snow into his mouth.

"Just water, it's nothing scary."

He let an amused look cross his face as Teddy reached out towards the small mound of snow only to pull back once he'd touched it, snow, Teddy decided, was_really_ cold. Trying again the little boy took a small about of snow in his hands and shoved it into his mouth with the grace and finesse of a baby, of course completely smearing the cold substance all over his face and hands.

Teddy immediately sputtered and coughed, trying to wipe the snow off his face and failing.

Harry laughed and gently brushed the quickly melting snow off his godson's face.

"Don't worry; you'll come to enjoy it eventually."

The small baby seemed to give him a _look_.

"Oh don't give me that face, enjoy it while you can before all you think about is shoveling the snow and not playing in it."

Teddy just rolled over and fell back asleep.

Harry rolled his eyes, kids.

* * *

LBH: I started this a while ago actually, but have only just finished it. This was originally supposed to focus of the ice aspect of winter because my dog slipped all the way down the driveway just recently and into a snow bank, he made a little doggy shaped hole! It was absolutely adorable. But I like this better. Snow is so much fun…until you have to shovel it. Then you hate snow. 


	12. William

Godfather

_William_

Harry rubbed his temples tiredly. He loved James, he really did but Merlin the boy resembled his namesake in looks and personality so much sometimes that it drove him crazy. He almost wished that James was more like Albus, who was still only a baby but was never nearly as fussy as James was at that age.

Even Teddy had given him an easier time as a baby!

He tried to put these thoughts from his head as James zoomed around the movie rental store, picking up just about every thing he got his hands on then putting it down again…in the wrong place. So Harry followed his little whirlwind of a son, picking up and replacing the movies where they should be. Following Harry around was Teddy, now twelve, who looked on in amusement as his godfather tried to keep up with his rambunctious five year old.

"You could help you know?"

Teddy smirked, "And miss out on all your pain and suffering as you try to bend over and get those movies? No way!"

Harry glared at him but turned around again to follow James' latest mess. If Ginny wasn't in some serious need of alone time with Albus then he would have screamed and raged at her leaving him like this. And then stick Teddy to the ceiling for laughing at his suffering.

Harry winced as he heard a particularly loud crash and ran around the shelves to see James had run into a small wrack of movie candy, leaving a mess of boxes and wrappers over the floor. James sat in the middle of the mess laughing nervously.

"James I swear if you keep doing this you'll end up like William!"

James looked puzzled, "You mean Uncle Bill?"

Harry smirked and regained his composure. He knew this was very Slytherin but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"No, I mean your brother William."

James looked puzzled, "But…I don't have a brother William…"

"That's because we got rid of him for being bad."

James' face paled instantly and Teddy looked at Harry with an odd expression on his face before joining in.

"Yeah! I remember William! Gee I wonder how he is?"

James paled even further.

"We haven't heard from him in a really long time, you think he's okay Uncle Harry?"

Harry nodded, "I'm sure he is, after all, he gets to clean socks and pick up toys _all day_ and with no dessert too!"

At this point James hurled himself into his father's waist and clung to him.

"I'll be good! Please don't send me away like William!"

Harry paused and tapped his chin thoughtfully, "Well…if you apologize to that store clerk for knocking over all the candy then I _suppose_ we can keep you."

James brightened, "Thank you daddy!" And with that he ran off to help the distressed teenager bow trying valiantly to pick up all the candy in an orderly fashion.

"Uncle Harry?"

"Yes Teddy?"

"…You're evil."

* * *

LBH: …My older brother used to tell me that my family was full of cannibals and that they were only keeping me to fatten me up and eat me…I toned it down a bit. But in all seriousness, thanks for being patient with the updates and thanks for all the wonderful comments. And I guess some of you are surprised that I'm not a mother. Nope! Child free! Well I did do the Baby Think it Over, which only made me think that there's no way in hell I'm having a baby.


	13. Rain

Godfather

_Rain_

Harry looked up worriedly at the darkening clouds. He hoped it didn't start to downpour, he'd been lucky so far about traveling with the upcoming storm but now it seemed that his luck had run out. He looked down when he felt the tug at his hand.

"Unca Hawwy…"

Harry smiled at the little three year old. He had just taken Teddy on his first muggle bus ride. He figured he'd give Teddy a good first time on a bus before he was subjected to the cruel necessity that was the Knight Bus. Every witch or wizard needed the bus at one point or another, it was surprisingly common for young witches and wizards to be able to apparate somewhere without splinching, but apparate to the completely wrong location and not know how to get back for fear of splinching the second time around. Thus, the Knight Bus for that stranded witch or wizard.

"Yes Teddy?"

"Is it gonna wain?"

Harry puzzled over his meaning before getting the baby talk, he meant rain. It was common for Teddy to turn his R's into W's. He did it with his name all the time.

"I think so–here, let me get this for you…"

Kneeling down, Harry dug through his emergency bag for a bright yellow rain jacket and matching hat and boots. It was rather traditional yes, but in case Teddy wandered off into the forest he'd be able to see him. Bright yellow was good for something after all. Putting the outfit onto his godson with relative ease, he dug back into the bag for his own poncho, which was white, an odd color for a rain poncho but it was a gift from Luna and he enjoyed it since it was the first rain jacket he'd ever gotten, every other time he'd been forced the suffer the fate of just getting wet, since he rarely carried around an umbrella and more often then not he got caught in the rain in muggle London, so he couldn't use a water repelling charm.

After slipping the poncho over his head he looked up to see the first drops of rain hit the trees around them and slip off the leaves into the dirt of the path they walked on to get back to Harry's house.

Soon the light drizzle of rain became a steady downpour, the leaves all around them tapping and swaying under the weight of the water.

Slipping his wand out of its holster he made the motion for water repelling charm but was halted by Teddy.

"Wait! Can we…can we…play in the wain?"

Harry looked startled for a moment, play in the rain? Why on Earth would anyone want to do that? But as he looked at Teddy's pitiful eyes he just couldn't so no.

"…Alright, if you want to I guess…"

Teddy cheered and with not more thoughts he bounded off into a nearby puddle splashing and getting mud all over his boots. The little boy spun around wildly, arms flailing before loosing his balance quite suddenly. The little boy looked stunned for a moment before a burst of laughter ripped from his mouth and he stood right back up again and jumped in another puddle.

Harry watched him silently…looking at it this way he could see what was so appealing but when he got home he'd have to clean all the mud off his clothes, and with deep stains sometimes even magic wouldn't do the trick.

Harry stared at Teddy a little longer. You only got to be a kid once he supposed…

With a quick look to either side of the trail he made sure they were completely alone and he breathed a sigh of relief before he ran forward with a grin, jumping in a puddle and splashing Teddy. He giggled and Harry laughed right along side him.

He could afford to be a bad influence…just this once.

* * *

LBH: My mum completely hated me when I was a kid for doing this. I was obsessed with water as a kid so I'd always come home with water stains or mud on my clothes. Now that I do my own laundry I can see why she always told me never to jump in the mud but…I still do it sometimes when no one is looking. It's been raining practically all the time here so this came to mind when I looked out my window in the morning.


	14. Roast

Godfather

_Roast_

In all actuality the roast was only a minor part of the meal. Sure Harry had spent an hour marinating it in sauces and then an extra half and hour to prepare the accompanying vegetables, but the dessert really made the meal. The meal seems so insignificant after you've eaten the dessert. It was the last flavor you tasted before the meal was complete and whether the dessert was good or not set the tone for the rest of his night.

So it was with this thought in mind Harry checked his roast one last time before setting about to create the grand finish to his meal. Teddy was five years old now and this would be their first Christmas with just the two of them. Hermione and Ron were off on an all Weasley holiday (now that Hermione and Ron were married she too was a Weasley) and although he was invited (Ginny's boyfriend and longtime family friend) he was a high standing Auror still on duty during the Holidays. As luck would have it, Andromeda was called in for a wedding from her sister Narcissa. Now that the war had come and gone the sisters were far more open with their good relations but Andromeda was still not going to bring her grandson, son of two Order members, to a pureblood wedding. Thus Teddy was taking residence with his favorite godfather.

Harry still stuck on the fact that someone would marry Draco Malfoy…willingly.

Harry was brought from his thoughts by the tugging on his pants. Looking down he saw his pouting godson staring up at him.

"Yes Teddy?"

"Uncle Harry I'm bored."

Harry looked over at the small table he had set up for Teddy covered in colored pencils and magical coloring books.

"But what about your drawings?"

"I'm tired of drawing, I wanna cook with you!"

Harry paused for a moment allowing all the possibilities to flow into his head. He was sure all guardians felt like this at one moment or another when their children asked to help cook. He was bombarded with the possibilities of allowing Teddy to help, and then he thought of the consequences. He was blinded with thoughts of a Teddy on fire, the kitchen in flames, his roast ruined, and his house blowing up in a catastrophe eerily reminiscent of a nuclear bomb site, mushroom cloud and all. He mentally whimpered.

Now to break this to Teddy.

"Well…um…sure!" Harry was fairly convinced of his insanity after saying that. But then he imagined Teddy in tears and crying saying that Harry didn't love him… He could risk this, he could! He just…had to watch Teddy _very _closely.

Gathering a fairly large bowl Harry dumped some flour and some water into the bowl and added in a wooden spoon. Kneeling down Harry gave the bowl and spoon to Teddy.

"Now Teddy, it would be a great help to me if you could stir this until…" Harry bit his lip, what could he say? "Until it turns blue! Then we'll add it to the rest of the pie!"

Teddy brightened instantly and grabbed the bowl and spoon and began stirring vigorously, getting a mixture of flour and water all over the floor. Harry was immensely grateful for cleaning charms.

Harry turned back to the actual pie mix, breathing a sigh of relief. That would have almost never worked on a muggle child. But seeing as Teddy had grown up his entire life surrounded by magic, it was within the realm of possibility that something, if stirred enough, would turn blue. Thank Merlin.

Crisis Averted.

* * *

LBH: I wanted to write something about baking since it's all I've been doing lately. All weekend I have made a point to be as disgustingly anti-feminist as possible. And it's rather fun doing so once and a great while. So far I have three pies, one apple crisp, at least three batches of cookies and a small army of cinnamon rolls from leftover pie dough. Watch out for my army, it's coming for all your enemy vegetables. Health food beware.


	15. Rake

Godfather

_Rake_

Teddy looked on in amazement as the leaves all flew past his head and landed in a fairly large and neat pile at the base of the now barren tree. The now ten year old smiled at his godfather, who returned the gesture and placed his wand back into its holster. Harry had long since forgone the rake, because although he was still generally fond of doing things the muggle way his yard was just too big to be manageable.

Harry's lip quirked at the sight of his godson's smiling face. It didn't matter how old Teddy got, it was still just as heartwarming as the first time he smiled.

Teddy then proceeded to scurry around the large pile, looking at it from all angles.

"It' perfect Uncle Harry!"

Harry raised a brow, "You think so?"

"Of course! Look at all those leaves, I could never ask for a bigger pile."

Harry nodded and looked towards the pile, it was rather large. It was almost up to his hip in fact. And although Harry wasn't the tallest person in the world that was still a fair amount of leaves.

"Teddy."

Said boy looked up from his place crouched by the leaves.

"I have to ask, as a concerned adult of course, what is it you intend to do with all these leaves?"

Teddy looked at him as if he'd grown two heads and a tail.

"I'm going to jump in them of course."

Harry blinked, "Jump in them?"

"Yep."

He frowned; Teddy came up with the strangest ideas. "And where did you think up this?"

"From the telly."

That explained it. But…

"Why wait so long though? The leaves started falling weeks ago."

"Because then I wouldn't have all the leaves, and I wouldn't get as big a pile! I want a huge pile to jump in! Not some wimpy small pile!" As he said this Teddy rolled back onto his heels and extended his arms out wide. Harry had to suppress the coo that wanted to come out. His godson was so cute.

"Alright I get that but what about—"

"Here I go Uncle Harry!"

Harry watched in bemusement as his godson took a flying leap into the pile. Leaves flew into Harry's face upon impact. And although Harry might have thought the act of jumping into leaves was a little strange, Teddy seemed to be enjoying himself. Well until…

"EW!"

Teddy, who had dug himself under all the leaves, screamed and flung himself away from the pile.

"Teddy what is it?" Harry kneeled down by his side.

"There was a-a slug! A sticky nasty gooey slug Uncle Harry!"

Teddy whipped his face around once he heard laughter.

"Well that's what I tried to warn you about! The longer the leaves sit there the more creepy crawlies gather under them. Not to mention the several times it's rained, those leaves must have been terribly soggy."

"You couldn't have told me this before I jumped?"

Harry just smiled.

"Now where's the fun in that?"

* * *

LBH: I was raking leaves (this happened months ago actually) and I was reminded of that time when I was a kid jumping into leaves only to find slugs everywhere. I'm not sure if it's just where I lived but there were bugs everywhere under all those wet leaves. So while it might seem picturesque, it's probably best to jump in leaf piles when the leaves are dry…


	16. Replacement

Godfather

_Replacement_

"Don't you want to see the new baby Teddy?"

Looking at the wriggling, pink… _thing_ in his Uncle Harry's arms he could honestly say he didn't.

At Teddy's disinterested gaze Harry shrugged and straightened his back out. With practiced ease Harry gently rocked James back and forth until the small baby fell back asleep. James was only a few days old and still looked somewhat like a worm larvae in his cocoon like blankets, so Harry guessed he could understand. Babies weren't so cute those first few days. Just the fact that James was his firstborn made him adorable at all.

It was only days after this encounter that Harry had a problem.

"Teddy!"

Walking up to his guilty looking godson Harry took out his wand and cast a quick repairing charm on the vase. He turned back to the small child.

"Teddy why did you do that? And don't give me that look; I know you deliberately did that!"

Teddy merely huffed and turned his head away.

Harry had never thought of his godson as spoiled and bratty but his attitude these past few weeks was slowly but surely changing his mind. The boy had gotten into all sorts mischief, knocking over things, throwing temper tantrums, not behaving properly, acting rudely in front of guests… The list went on. He'd never seen Teddy act so…well… hormonal. He'd go from being a well behaved little boy to a nightmare in seconds. It was like Ginny's pregnancy all over again. Except this time he couldn't massage her ankles or make special chocolate cakes to calm her down again.

Harry didn't know what to do quite frankly.

He'd asked Hermione about it later.

"Well I think it would be obvious."

Harry failed to comprehend.

"Harry, Teddy may not be your son by blood but he might as well be. Because Andromeda isn't married, you're the key male figure in his life. He may call you uncle but you're still somewhat of a father figure to him. Isn't it obvious he'd be jealous of the attention you're giving to James?"

Harry had honestly never thought of it that way. But now that Hermione had said it, it did make sense. Teddy was always muddling around with James' things, hiding James' pacifier on numerous occasions, and there was that one time when Teddy asked why anyone would want "a smelly baby that makes too much noise."

Teddy thought that they were replacing him with the baby.

Now came the hard part.

It was a week since the broken vase, and Harry decided it was time to talk.

"Teddy, come here please."

Teddy walked over sullenly.

Patting his lap, Harry was glad to see the delight on Teddy's face when he was allowed to snuggle with his favorite uncle. Harry always thought physical affection was important when raising a child, he grew up never having been touched or hugged and it had taken him years to get over his natural aversion to it, even if he had rather liked kissing Ginny in his sixth year. Kisses then were brief, prolonged snuggle periods were more difficult to get used to.

He liked to think he'd gotten better at the whole snuggle thing.

"Teddy, what do you think of James?"

Teddy wrinkled his nose, hair turning a rather brilliant shade of red.

"He's smelly and he's loud and he can't play or do anything fun!"

Harry smiled, "Yes, but all people were like that once Teddy, including you."

The boy just stared at him. "Nuh uh, I was never tiny or wiggly!"

"Oh but you were, look at this, this is you as a baby." Harry pointed to the pictures of a small, baby Teddy that Andromeda had given him for this occasion. He had plenty of baby pictures but none of a newborn Teddy.

"That's me?"

"Yep."

He let the boy take in the pictures before continuing.

"Teddy, all people were babies at one point, and babies can't take care of themselves very well and so we have to watch over them or else they'd hurt themselves."

Teddy gained a small look of understanding.

"So I know it seems like James is getting all the attention now but you got just as much attention when you were his age. It's not that I love you or James more than another, I love you both equally, James is just too small to look out for himself."

Teddy nodded.

"But I tell you what, why don't you be James' big brother?"

"Brother?"

"You'd help my look after him, and when he gets older help teach him all the things he needs to learn."

"Like tying shoes?!"

Harry smiled softly, "Yes, like tying shoes."

Teddy grinned brightly, "So when do I start this big brother thing?"

* * *

LBH: Honestly I only did this one because it had to be done. I really don't know how a child would react to a new baby so I can't say accurately. Some kids do this apparently and others don't, so I guess the situation is different for everyone… I don't like the ending for this one either…


	17. Rhythm

Godfather

_Rhythm_

"Harry! Good to see you, it's been—what? A week? Come in, come in!"

Harry smiled at Andromeda, who seemed uncannily perky for some reason, and stepped inside. He'd been gone on a mission for the past week and had missed his bi-weekly meetings with Teddy. He was making up for lost time, not to mention he brought good souvenirs as an olive branch, Teddy could get awfully moody when he thought he was being ignored.

Harry was in the process of removing his coat when he heard _it._

"Merlin! Is something dying in here?!" Instantly straightening up he flicked his wand from his holster and held it up in preparation.

Andromeda merely smiled, albeit it was a strained one.

"No, it's just Teddy."

Harry instantly began to panic, "Is he injured?! Why are we just standing here?!" He started to move before Andromeda grabbed his arm and held him back.

"There's nothing wrong Harry," another loud screech/gurgling hybrid sound made its way through the entryway, "Teddy is merely…practicing." Andromeda winced as another loud screech made itself known.

"Practicing? Practicing _what_? His dying cry!?"

Andromeda actually looked rather embarrassed, which was a strange look coming from the normally composed woman. "I thought it would be nice if Teddy had a hobby, something to do in his free time besides watching the television so I bought him an instrument… He hasn't really…well…" She stopped there; face becoming a rather flushed pink.

Another mangled shriek.

Harry gave her a flat look, "Nymphadora was his mother, I think this was to be expected."

Dear Merlin, that one sounded like Uncle Vernon singing in the shower.

Andromeda gave him a pleading look and Harry sighed.

"I'll go take it from him."

He'd never seen Andromeda look so grateful.

* * *

LBH: Have you ever sucked at something so badly that even your parents cringed? Yeah, music was like that for me. It was the equivalent of family night, all the parents seeing the drawings and then seeing…yeah. Teddy is just that bad. I sympathize Teddy, I really do.


	18. Rags

Godfather

_Rags_

"I'm embarrassed to be seen in public with you!"

Harry looked at his godson in shock. Teddy had never something like that to him before. He was always the _cool_ uncle, the _awesome_ uncle. What happened?

Harry gave his best broken hearted look, "But why Teddy? Too cool to be seen with your old Uncle Harry?"

Teddy looked mildly guilty for a moment before regaining vigor.

"No offense Uncle Harry but you look like a fucking hobo."

"Language."

Teddy scowled, "I mean it! You're thirty-three, you still look twenty and yet you dress like—like a homeless bum!"

Harry looked down at his loose yet comfy sweatshirt and shrugged, "What's wrong with what I wear?"

"It has no shape, the color is faded, it's riddled with holes, _not the good kind of holes mind you_, and it's way too big for you! You are very slim Uncle Harry and there are so many _good _clothes you could wear but you still dress like a street rat!"

"I'll have you know I'm a diamond in the rough."

Teddy gaped at him before shaking his head violently, "Merlin knows why Aunt Ginny married you…"

Harry smiled goofily, "Well, she's mentioned the clothes thing before, and she says as long as _she_ gets to see my totally awesome hot body every night she's fine with what I wear."

Teddy immediately clapped his hands over his ears in horror, "Shut-up! Oh Merlin I did not need to hear that!"

Harry merely smiled at his groaning godchild, "Ah teenagers."

* * *

LBH: This actually feels extremely out of character for Harry but I enjoyed writing it. I imagine metamorphmagus are up to date with all the latest fashion; after all, they have to perfect body type for everything.


	19. Date

Godfather

_Date_

Deep breaths Teddy old boy. You've known her you entire life, if she says no, she'll let you down gently… This whole mental pep-talk thing didn't sound as great as Aunt Ginny made it out to be. He remembered talking to her earlier about this, because Merlin knows Uncle Harry is useless in these sorts of situations.

"_Now Teddy, remember, look at her face, not her chest or her lips but at her face and look her in the eyes, show her you're serious."_

_Teddy gulped, nodded shakily. He rubbed his slick hands against his pants, a habit he normally didn't have. He would never ruin his clothes with such horrible habits but right now it seemed acceptable, listening to his Aunt going on about what a guy should do when asking a girl out. _

"_And most importantly, just relax, you've known Victoire your whole life and she'll know if you're acting funny." _

_Teddy nodded again, "Did… did Uncle Harry have to go through all of this to ask you out?"_

_Ginny paused but then a smile slid on to her face, "Harry didn't exactly ask. He came up to me one day after a Quidditch match and just kissed me, and we've been couple ever since."_

_Damn Uncle Harry, how could he be so lucky? Every other guy had to go through the embarrassment of asking the girl out before the kiss, Uncle Harry just cut to the chase! And was accepted! How incredible was that?!_

Teddy was snapped out of his memories by said lucky uncle, who smiled at his godchild and sat next to him.

"So, I heard through the grapevine that you're going to ask Victoire out, good for you!"

Teddy scowled at him, "Easy for you to say, you just had to kiss Aunt Ginny and then began the magical years of romance and glorious matrimony yada, yada, yada…"

Harry looked his godson with a dumbfounded expression before a small smirk grew on his face.

"Oh, is that what she told you?"

Teddy looked up, bewildered. "There's more?"

Harry's smirk grew in size, "Of course."

Teddy suddenly wormed his way closer to his uncle, "Tell me, _tell me_, all of the embarrassing attempts you had to make before Aunt Ginny dated you."

If Harry looked smug before, he looked positively evil in his glee right now.

"Well if you insist."

Harry cleared his throat rather dramatically, straightening out his shoulders and lengthening his back.

"_His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,_

_His hair is as dark as a blackboard._

_I wish he were mine, he's really divine,_

_The hero who conquered the Dark Lord!" _

_(Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) _

Teddy stared at his godfather is shock, "What… was that?"

Harry smiled, "A Valentine."

"Who in the name of Merlin's sweaty balls would send such a horrible Valentine?!"

Teddy could have sworn that his Uncle Harry's whole form swelled with joy, "Your Aunt Ginny of course."

No, not Aunt Ginny! The cool Aunt, the fun Aunt, why?

Harry's smile softened, "I was twelve when she sent me that Valentine, she was only eleven, give her some credit for at least trying to rhyme."

Harry stood up, brushing off his pants, "So you see, there was really more to entire thing. Ginny has always been the more dominant one in the relationship, Merlin, she was the one who proposed to _me_. If your Aunt Ginny had the courage to send her crush a singing Valentine like that in _public_ then I'm sure you can get the nerve to ask Victoire Weasley out on one measly date." And with that he walked off.

Teddy was a little bemused but overall he felt better. He couldn't possibly do worse than his Aunt Ginny.

* * *

LBH: A lot of people portray Ginny as this tough, badass chick, but I will always see her as the girl who gave Harry a _singing Valentine_. I see the following years as her attempt to impress Harry, and yes I personally think Harry would be too indecisive about whether he should finally marry Ginny (that's just how he is) and so Ginny would just be "to hell with this" and propose instead.


	20. Family

Godfather

_Family_

He'd come a long way from the boy who lived in the cupboard under the stairs. He had friends now; he had wife now, children, happiness, a family, things he once thought he'd never have.

Seeing his wife, chatting happily with Angelina about Quidditch, seeing his best friends each holding a hand of their youngest child Hugo, swinging him back and forth as the little boy laughed gleefully, seeing George, despite everything, performing jokes for his young nieces Molly and Lucy, Percy watching on with a slight smile, seeing James running after the newlyweds, Teddy and Victoire, with a camera, insisting that he should take pictures, seeing Al and Scorpius Malfoy of all people sitting at one of the many round tables tossing small pieces of candy back and forth while laughing with one another, seeing Arthur and Molly playing small hand games with the young Fred Weasley, seeing Andromeda smiling a true smile for once in her life, seeing it all…

This freak didn't turn out so bad, if he did say so himself.

"Daddy! Come dance with me!"

"Yeah Uncle Harry, it's my wedding and all you can do is sit on your arse and daydream!"

Harry mock glared at his oldest godchild, standing up to take his jacket off to reveal a dark green dress shirt. He let Ginny dress him for this special occasion.

He knelt down to pick up his daughter, still young enough to be held and brought her up to rest in his arms.

"So you want to dance huh? Well, it's at your own risk I suppose eh Lil's?" The little girl giggled at him but encouraged him to walk to the dance floor none the less.

Not bad at all.

* * *

LBH: This is by far the shortest one-shot but overall I'm fairly pleased with its length, making it too long will only drag out the ending since this is indeed the last one-shot for _Godfather_. I've had fun with this but I have another story I want to start with, and since I will only update two stories at once, this one I had to finish. The next one's a crossover for all you Naruto fans out there, watch out for it. And again, thanks for reading _Godfather_, I hoped you enjoyed it.


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